The exemplary embodiment relates to protection of sensitive information. While the systems and methods described herein relate to field level encryption of sensitive information viewable via a mobile device, it will be appreciated that the described techniques may find application in other encryption or mobile applications, for networked computing devices, complex machinery, fault reporting, and the like.
Documents that contain classified, confidential, or personal information (sensitive information) often consist largely of non-sensitive information with a few fields or lines of sensitive information. Such sensitive information may include personal identifiable information (name, social security number, phone numbers, addresses, credit card numbers, etc.), salaries, medical codes, account numbers, private appointments, and the like. Other information may be designated as sensitive pursuant to healthcare medical record privacy laws, mortgage services privacy laws, or designated as confidential/work product during litigation discovery. In such instances, the sharing of electronic copies of a document including sensitive information can pose a number of risks, e.g., the document can be forwarded to unapproved users, stored insecurely, inappropriately modified, and the like.
Hard copies of documents that include sensitive information may be redacted prior to printing, such that the information is removed from the document. In the event that the hard copy is lost or misplaced, no confidential information is jeopardized. This provides some benefits, as having a printed copy of the document may be useful for note taking, negotiations, and the like. Unfortunately, the confidential information may be needed by a user, requiring the user to print an unredacted copy, which may be lost or stolen.
Accordingly, separating the document from the sensitive information in the document can provide additional layers of protection, such that even if such sensitive information is compromised, it would be so out of context as to render it almost unusable.
The level of sophistication and the number of features inherent in GOOGLE, APPLE, MICROSOFT, RIM, and NOKIA mobile devices is increasing at a dramatic rate. Most of these mobile devices offer various security features, e.g., remote wiping of memory, restricted logon, encrypted communications, and the like. Even usage of such mobile devices may be restricted by implementing password or biometric access mechanisms. Furthermore, the size and convenience of these mobile devices surpasses that of a portable computer (laptop, notebook, tablet), making them much more likely to be in the possession of the user at any given time. Accordingly, the use of a mobile device to securely retrieve and store confidential information represents another potential benefit to the user.
Accordingly, there is an unmet need for systems and methods that enable the designation of multiple levels of access to sensitive information and the ability for securely viewing such information.